Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Not too long ago, I went fossil hunting with @Tales From the Shale and another friend at a Pennsylvanian roadcut in Oglesby, Illinois. We found a truly epic amount of fossils and I'm only now categorizing and trying to properly ID them. Here are a few I'm wondering if anyone would be able to ID? Some of the brachiopods I found there. This next one I am completely baffled as to what it could be? Maybe some part of a straight shelled nautiloid? I'm pretty sure this next one is a Chondrichthyan, but unsure on genus ID. Unknown Brachiopod about the size of a penny. Possible crusher plate about 2 mm. In length! Species ID unknown. Larger unknown brachipods. Possible penny sized worm imprints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Another possible crusher plate tooth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Possible Cephalopod fossil? Possible Petalodus tooth, but unsure of the species. Another possible crusher plate tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tales From the Shale Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 First picture is what appears to be a Neospirifer. The second and third images are Composita argentia. The flat fossil in question actually appears to be more of a bivalve, see my last post on the Bond Formation. Some of the brachiopod fragments look like Antiquatonia. Unfortunately for the fragments, my best guesses would be a cladodont of some sort. Not sure about the crusher. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 @Tales From the Shale Thanks for the IDs. I appreciate the brachiopods IDs especially as I'm not the best at IDs for those organisms. For the Peladodus tooth what species in the genus do you think it belongs to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Joseph Fossil said: This next one I am completely baffled as to what it could be? Maybe some part of a straight shelled nautiloid? I'm pretty sure this next one is a Chondrichthyan, but unsure on genus ID. Possible crusher plate about 2 mm. In length! Species ID unknown. Larger unknown brachipods. Possible penny sized worm imprints. I agree that the large flat part is very likely a partial and crushed bivalve, likely a sea pen. The fish bit is too fragmentary to ID. The "crusher plate" looks more like some kind of mineral, but it could be an extremely fragmentary fish bit of indeterminate nature. This large brachiopod is probably the underside of an Echinaria. The final specimen is minerals or lichen- this limestone deposit is not conducive for the preservation of soft-bodied animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 @Tales From the Shale At a certain angle, bright grey fossil in the 16th and 17th photos almost look like part of a trilobite. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Joseph Fossil said: Another possible crusher plate tooth! This is a partial Orbiculoidea, an inarticulate brachiopod. It's the only other fossil at this site besides fish material which is regularly preserved in dark colors, leading to false positives even for veteran hunters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 @deutscheben I think your ID is spot on. I thought originally it was something like a tooth plate from Helodus. Also, what kinds of cephalopods usually are found at the Bond Formation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 @deutscheben@Tales From the Shale One thing I'm also curious about is why are a lot of cladodonts specimens from the Bond so fragmentary? The one I found on 10/08/2022 was the best one I've found, but the rest so far seem to be almost broken in two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 2 hours ago, Joseph Fossil said: Possible Cephalopod fossil? Possible Petalodus tooth, but unsure of the species. Another possible crusher plate tooth. I don't think is cephalopod, it looks more like a broken brachiopod piece from these pictures. This one I'm not sure about! I actually found an identical one on my last trip and it has me flummoxed. It doesn't have the typical color and texture of either fish, brachiopod, trilobite or mollusc material, and I haven't been able to prep mine out yet to see if there is more to it. I agree this looks like a fish part, but there is too little exposed to be able to tell more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 20 minutes ago, Joseph Fossil said: @deutscheben@Tales From the Shale One thing I'm also curious about is why are a lot of cladodonts specimens from the Bond so fragmentary? The one I found on 10/08/2022 was the best one I've found, but the rest so far seem to be almost broken in two. This deposit is relatively high energy, meaning that most fossils are fragmentary or damaged prior to fossilization- not just cladodont teeth. Other delicate fossils like brachiopod spines are broken off and echinoderms get broken up. Complete or nearly complete specimens of anything other than brachiopods are just rare in general. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tales From the Shale Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 15 hours ago, deutscheben said: This deposit is relatively high energy, meaning that most fossils are fragmentary or damaged prior to fossilization- not just cladodont teeth. Other delicate fossils like brachiopod spines are broken off and echinoderms get broken up. Complete or nearly complete specimens of anything other than brachiopods are just rare in general. I noticed that in the trilobite fauna. I only find pygidiums and highly fragmentary pieces. I wonder why the inarticulate brachiopods have a distinct color? I found one thinking it was a tooth, but saw other posts with their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 On 10/18/2022 at 9:04 AM, Tales From the Shale said: I noticed that in the trilobite fauna. I only find pygidiums and highly fragmentary pieces. I wonder why the inarticulate brachiopods have a distinct color? I found one thinking it was a tooth, but saw other posts with their own. I happened to come across a potential answer to this today in Zangerl and Richardson's iconic monograph on the Mecca and Logan Quarry shales- they note that both inarticulate brachiopod shells and vertebrate teeth and bone are high in phosphate. As far as the chemical reasons why this would cause them to fossilize in darker colors, I would have to do more research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tales From the Shale Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 1 hour ago, deutscheben said: I happened to come across a potential answer to this today in Zangerl and Richardson's iconic monograph on the Mecca and Logan Quarry shales- they note that both inarticulate brachiopod shells and vertebrate teeth and bone are high in phosphate. As far as the chemical reasons why this would cause them to fossilize in darker colors, I would have to do more research. Thats interesting, I knew vertebrate fossils had high amounts of phosphates, (something to do with osteological structures vs calcium carbonate shells). But I wonder if it's something to do with its feeding style? Being inarticulate it subsists differently from the rest of the Bond brachiopod fauna? But this is only a surface level thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 On 10/17/2022 at 2:03 PM, Joseph Fossil said: Possible Cephalopod fossil? Possible Petalodus tooth, but unsure of the species. Another possible crusher plate tooth. Here are some more I almost forgot to upload previously. Found this when I split a rock open. Maybe Bivalve or Cephalopod? Have no idea what the green thing is at the top? Maybe another bivalve? Possible Chondrichthyan tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Fossil Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 4 hours ago, Joseph Fossil said: Here are some more I almost forgot to upload previously. Found this when I split a rock open. Maybe Bivalve or Cephalopod? Have no idea what the green thing is at the top? Maybe another bivalve? Possible Chondrichthyan tooth. @deutscheben @Tales From the Shale Do you guys have an idea of what these could be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 The first one appears to be a quite well-preserved sea pen type bivalve. The next two are pretty scrappy, it’s hard to make a determination from pictures. The last one does give me fish vibes, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Hi, Please use a ruler in cm or inches instead of a coin, they are each their size depending on the country. Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tales From the Shale Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 I would agree the first few are bivalve fragments. The last pieces seem fish like as both are relatively common to encounter on a trip to Oglesby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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